Pakistan will face Australia in second semifinal of the ongoing ICC t20 world cup at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday. Pakistan finished top of Group 2, winning all five games, including a high-profile clash with arch-rivals India, which helped them advance in the tournament. Australia, on the other hand, finished second in Group 1, behind rivals England, which handed them their only defeat of the tournament so far. However, the Aussies haven’t looked back since their loss against England, and are enjoying a decent run.
Pakistan will rely on their captain Babar Azam to deliver the goods with the willow against Australia to make it to the final. Babar is the second highest run-scorer in the current tournament with 264 runs at an average of 66.
For the record, Babar enjoys batting against Australia in T20Is and has found it difficult to crack when the two sides have met in the shortest format of the game.
In 6 T20Is, Babar has scored 268 runs at a decent strike rate of 125.22, at an average of 69.50, with four half-centuries. He has been a man on a mission as he looks to lead his team once again against a well drilled Australian bowling unit.
However, Babar will face an uphill task as he will be up against Mitchell Starc, who has bowled brilliantly with the new ball in the tournament, taking 7 wickets in 5 matches so far.
And with the Dubai pitch offering some seam movement in the first innings, Starc will certainly fancy his chances against Babar if Pakistan bats first at the Dubai International Stadium in the second semi-final.
Starc also has a stellar record in the shortest format against Pakistan, taking 13 wickets in 8 T20Is against the Men in Green.
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Interestingly, when these two sides last met in a T20I in 2019, Starc dismissed Babar cheaply as Australia thrashed Pakistan by 10 wickets at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
So, it will be interesting to see how Babar performs against Starc this time around, especially for a place in the T20 World Cup final.
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